Will The CW call it a day?

So, America's fifth network, The CW is seriously struggling. The ratings are dysmal and their shows aren't within the Nielsen top 40 or get nominations from award organisations such as the Emmys and Golden Globes. The only show on the network, which pulls a decent amount of viewers and creates buzz internationally is The Vampire Diaries.

Sure, their shows do well through online streaming as well as social media (Twitter, Facebook) but that's not enough for a network to succeed. It's sad when cable networks such as MTV, Bravo and ABC Family get more viewers tuning in for their shows.

I don't really follow US TV that much, but from just looking at the names, The CW is a pretty meaningless name compared to The WB. They probably would have been better off just closing UPN and moving its programming to The WB.

So, America's fifth network, The CW is seriously struggling. The ratings are dysmal and their shows aren't within the Nielsen top 40 or get nominations from award organisations such as the Emmys and Golden Globes. The only show on the network, which pulls a decent amount of viewers and creates buzz internationally is The Vampire Diaries.

Sure, their shows do well through online streaming as well as social media (Twitter, Facebook) but that's not enough for a network to succeed. It's sad when cable networks such as MTV, Bravo and ABC Family get more viewers tuning in for their shows.

Do, you think The CW will call it a day and fold?

Supernatural? Gossip Girl? 90210? Next Top Model?

Sure it's not exactly that famous, but the network has enough semi-successes to tide it over...

Bearing in mind it's backed by Warner Brothers and CBS, I think it can survive as a loss making venture for a few more years... (Assuming it is a loss making venture, which I doubt)

While the shows don't bring in gangbusters ratings they do however make shows that are sold all over the world such as 90210 and Gossip Girl which make most of their money through international broadcast rights.

I also think changing the name was essential as The WB was so synonymous with teen/family dramas they needed to have something new to invigorate the brand, however I could see it reverting to the WB in the future.

Although the WB and NBC are the two lowest networks I always find myself most interested in their new offerings, they both are in a position where they have to make a lot of risks with their programming.

I don't think it will fold but it's just in a bit of a transitionary period at the minute. It's lost two of it's biggest, longer running shows in the last year - One Tree Hill and Smallville - and Gossip Girl is due to finish soon. Realistically, there probably isn't much life left in 90210 so they'll probably only get another year out of that too. It was debatable whether Hart of Dixie and Nikita were going to be renewed for this season so they may also finish next year depending on their ratings performance this season. That only leaves Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries and ANTM as their strongest shows.

They need to launch a lot of strong new shows this year to rebuild the schedule but I can only see The Carrie Diaries and Arrow being successful. Cult, Emily Owens and Beauty and the Beast all look pretty poor.

The thing about The CW is that it might not bring in mega ratings... But it attracts the right type of demographic that the advertisers like... young teens to 30- 40 year olds. That's the only reason why it has lasted so long. If it weren't for them it would have folded when it was WB and UPN.

I hope it doesnt, but if it does I would hope that another channel gets to have the rights to Nikita (and like another poster had said, now that it was three series, it could be likely to get a fourth for syndication reasons). I would like to see some primetime soap opera-ness going, maybe a mix of dallas and the bold and the beautiful. Maybe if they had more things that 'pop' it would give more a presence.

I hope it doesnt, but if it does I would hope that another channel gets to have the rights to Nikita (and like another poster had said, now that it was three series, it could be likely to get a fourth for syndication reasons). I would like to see some primetime soap opera-ness going, maybe a mix of dallas and the bold and the beautiful. Maybe if they had more things that 'pop' it would give more a presence.

The WB and The CW have had their fair share of soaps over the years. They've mostly been teen soaps though, the closest to Dallas \ The Bold and the Beautiful territory they've ever gotten was way back at the beginning of The WB when they had Savannah.

Soaps and sci fi \ fantasy like Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries have been their bread and butter for years so to speak. They seem to be trying to get into the medical drama genre now with the addition of Hart of Dixie and Emily Owens MD. If they're successful, it'll bulk out their schedule with something a bit more than just soaps and fantasy. Strangely enough, sitcoms are one thing that have been noticeably missing from their schedules for years. When WB and UPN merged to form The CW, I think a few UPN sitcoms carried over to the new network but they haven't produced anything since.

America's Next Top Model's ratings are abysmal. The premiere of Cycle 19 got 1.09 million viewers. A couple of years ago, ANTM would have achieved at least 3-4 million viewers as well as more promotion and buzz. I think The CW will probably cancel the show as they don't really benefit from it, seeing as ANTM isn't produced by WB and CBS.

It's a loss leader venture for CBS and WB. It gives them 220 hours of content from their studios that they wouldn't otherwise have to exploit the rights for. The CW just needs to break even to make sense, hey it could even make a certain amount of loss and the two studios could shoulder it and still make a profit

They need to launch a lot of strong new shows this year to rebuild the schedule but I can only see The Carrie Diaries and Arrow being successful. Cult, Emily Owens and Beauty and the Beast all look pretty poor.

Personally I don't see The Carrie Diaries being a hit for the following reasons

- Like the New Melrose Place the target demo has very little attachment to the original show
- The target audience has no nostalgic connection to the 80's. The Gossip Girl backdoor pilot rated badly amongst the focus group for this very reason which was a major element in it Ultimatly being passed on.

. When WB and UPN merged to form The CW, I think a few UPN sitcoms carried over to the new network but they haven't produced anything since.

They carried the following sitcoms over
Girlfriends (2006–2008; originally aired on UPN, 2000–2006)
Reba (2006–2007; originally aired on The WB, 2001–2006)
All of Us (2006–2007; originally aired on UPN, 2003–2006)
Everybody Hates Chris (2006–2009; originally aired on UPN, 2005–2006)

And they then launched two of their own
The Game (2006-2009 Spinoff of Girlfriends)
Aliens in America (2007-2008)

They just failed to garner ratings and with only a 5 day, 2 hour a night sitcoms are hard to fit in. It's no surprise that most networks have 2 hour comedy blocks rather than just an hour as it restricts one sitcoms ability to sink the whole sitcom lineup.

They did try again in 2010 by importing the Candian sitcom 18 to life but that tanked too.

What the CW need really is a couple of decent young skewing sitcom that does good ratings on another channel but which aren't good enough for that channel so get cancelled. If they could pick a couple like that up it might be enough of a foundation to make trying sitcoms a realistic proposition

I hope not Most of the shows are watch are from The CW - 90210, Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Hart of Dixie and also previously One Tree Hill but yeah love all these shows and I hope The CW continues for a long while yet with more great shows, looking forward to Arrow and Beauty And The Beast so will check those out and maybe Emily Owens if I feel like it but yeah I agree with CPW4EVER's comment that The CW is just going through a transitionary period after One Tree Hill finishing and soon enough Gossip Girl with 90210 maybe getting another year or so but the thing is the channel produces quite a few good shows and I hope it gains much more great shows and lasts for a long while yet!

I actually think Hart Of Dixie could get very high ratings this October. It did really well on Monday nights behind Gossip Girl during the 2011-2012 season, getting better ratings than GG. It is the most watched show this summer, as the reruns perform much better than the other repeated scripted shows. I think if The CW gives the show lots of promotion, it could get over 1.9 or even 2.0 million viewers in October.

Also, I agree with what the other poster said. If The CW want to get back into the comedy genre, they should pick up a sitcom from the Big Four. I think picking up NBC's Community would make sense. Although, the show isn't produced by WB or CBS, it has a very dedicated fanbase, creates buzz on social media and appeals to a younger audience (three things, The CW looks for in their shows). Also, Community is a well-written comedy, which receives critical acclaim. NBC treats the show awfully, and although, the ratings wouldn't be spectacular on The CW. It would probably get around 1.7 to 2.0 million viewers on their network, which isn't necessarily bad, for their standards.

I actually think Hart Of Dixie could get very high ratings this October. It did really well on Monday nights behind Gossip Girl during the 2011-2012 season, getting better ratings than GG. It is the most watched show this summer, as the reruns perform much better than the other repeated scripted shows. I think if The CW gives the show lots of promotion, it could get over 1.9 or even 2.0 million viewers in October.

Also, I agree with what the other poster said. If The CW want to get back into the comedy genre, they should pick up a sitcom from the Big Four. I think picking up NBC's Community would make sense. Although, the show isn't produced by WB or CBS, it has a very dedicated fanbase, creates buzz on social media and appeals to a younger audience (three things, The CW looks for in their shows). Also, Community is a well-written comedy, which receives critical acclaim. NBC treats the show awfully, and although, the ratings wouldn't be spectacular on The CW. It would probably get around 1.7 to 2.0 million viewers on their network, which isn't necessarily bad, for their standards.

Nah community completely misses the CW's target audience. So much of its jokes have their roots in 80's pop culture and niche genre shows so would go over the majority of CW's audiences head. Certainly anyone who followed it from NBC is unlikely to stick around and watch a typical CW show

It needs to be a sitcom more along the lines of Suburgatory which based on its rating drop off last season could be at risk of the chop and as a WB produced show would be ideal

No it wasn't. The merger officially happened between seasons 2 and 3. Infact in the Season 2 finale there is even a hidden line which has double meaning that announced the CW had picked it up for 3rd season. This is where Clarence Wiedman rings Duncan. Duncan answers with the line "CW?" to which Clarence replies "It's a done deal"

The show had been picked up a few weeks before the writing of the episode but all the pickups were kept under wraps until the upfronts so no-one knew. Mind you they had also told Everwood it was picked up (it was even on the schedule as late as the weekend before upfronts as it was a last minute decision to cancel it in favour of a knee jerk reaction to the 7th Heaven finale ratings, how they couldn't realise a final episode of a long running show that had been advertised for months would get a bump that they couldn't sustain I don't know)